Carry On Sergeant
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Carry On Sergeant is the first Carry On film. Its first public screening was on 1 August 1958 at Screen One, London. Actors in this film who went on to be part of the regular team in the series were Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor and Terry Scott. The film also starred William Hartnell, Bob Monkhouse, Shirley Eaton, Bill Owen, Eric Barker, Dora Bryan, Norman Rossington and Terence Longdon.
The film was based on a play The Bull Boys by R. F. Delderfield. Norman Hudis adapted this into a script with John Antrobus contributing additional material.
"Carry on Sergeant" is a normal expression for an army officer to use. The title was used to cash in on the popularity of the 1957 film Carry On Admiral, which was written by Val Guest. At the time, the success of Carry On Sergeant prompted applause and audience laughter in serious settings where the phrase was used, including amongst audiences of the film The Devil's Disciple (1959).
Carry on Sergeant had not been conceived as the start of a movie series; only after the film's surprising success did the producer Peter Rogers and director Gerald Thomas set about planning a further project. After reusing the Carry On prefix and some cast members in their next project Carry On Nurse (1959) and having success with that film, the Carry On series of films evolved.
